Apple supplier uses facial recognition to screen for underage employees
20 December, 2013
category: Biometrics, Corporate
Pegatron, the Taiwan-based manufacturer of Apple’s new iPhone 5C device, implemented facial recognition technology to pre-screen and eliminate the employ of underage workers.
Employing underage workers is a rather notorious problem in China where Pegatron is utilizing the biometric solution. The Wall Street Journal reveals that the company’s Shanghai branch is utilizing the facial recognition technology as part of a pre-hiring process.
The increased security measures come after the recent death of a 15-year-old at the Shanghai facility. The young man was under the employ of Pegatron for just one month when he died from pneumonia.
The legal working age in the country of China is 16, and Pegatron is hoping that the implementation of facial recognition technology will help to eliminate the employ of illegal aged employees.
Pegatron claims that it checks each applicant’s government-issued ID prior to hiring for positions on the assembly line. In addition to checking names against police records, applicants’ faces are also matched to their ID photos using facial recognition technology to single out those using borrowed or stolen IDs.
Pegatron claims that the recently deceased employee was able to obtain a legitimate government ID card with his own photo, however identifying information belonged to another individual.
